Peterson seen driving to marina 3 times / Amber Frey not expected to testify at Modesto hearing

Published 4:00 am, Friday, November 14, 2003

2003-11-14 04:00:00 PDT Modesto -- Scott Peterson drove rental cars to the Berkeley Marina three times in the days after his pregnant wife disappeared, gazing at the water before returning home to Modesto, a detective testified Thursday.

Peterson spent only a couple of minutes each time at the marina, where he had told police he went fishing the day his wife, Laci Peterson, disappeared on Christmas Eve, Modesto police Detective Al Brocchini said. Officers who tailed the double-murder suspect saw him driving erratically at one point, as if trying to elude them, the detective said.

Peterson, 31, a former fertilizer salesman, has pleaded not guilty in the slayings of his wife and their unborn son, whose bodies washed ashore in April in Richmond, a few miles north of the marina.

Laci Peterson's body was clad in tan maternity pants and a 12- to 18-inch- long piece of duct tape was "attached to the groin area," Detective Philip Owen testified Thursday.

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Also on Thursday, attorney Gloria Allred said her client Amber Frey, a Fresno massage therapist who was romantically involved with Peterson, will not testify at the preliminary hearing to determine whether Peterson is tried.

"I think that if she had been called to testify at this preliminary hearing, that the defense might have chosen to re-victimize her," Allred said.

Peterson visited the marina on Jan. 5, 6 and 9, Brocchini testified Thursday, and "stared out toward the bay" each time. While driving back to Modesto on Jan. 6, Peterson "began doing countersurveillance," making U-turns and stopping on the side of the road, Brocchini said.

But during cross-examination, defense attorney Mark Geragos asked the detective if he was aware that a Modesto newspaper had reported that divers were searching for Laci Peterson in San Francisco Bay on the same days Peterson visited the marina.

Geragos also noted that Peterson's truck had been impounded by police and suggested that his client had been driving in a way to shake off reporters. "You'd rather just come to the conclusion that it's suspicious because he's returning to the scene," Geragos said.

Brocchini also testified that Frey was introduced to Peterson after a friend of Frey's met the defendant at an agricultural conference in Anaheim. After the friend discovered that Peterson was married, she confronted him on Dec. 6. Sounding tearful, he said, "Look, I'm not married. I lost my wife. Let me break it to Amber," according to Brocchini.

Geragos also sparred with Brocchini over the number of hairs that were found on a pair of pliers in Peterson's boat. Police initially reported finding one hair, but said the hair broke into two pieces in an evidence envelope.

"One hair went in," Brocchini said. Geragos responded: "And two hairs came out. Is this a magic envelope?"